Chapter 71


    Fight I woke up sitting on the floor by Aren’s bed, my hand stretched to hold his while he slept, my upper


    body twisted in a weird, ufortable position. It took me a while to stand as my stiffened muscles


    refused to work, punishing me for my awkward way of falling asleep. It was four in the morning when I


    swayed back to my bedroom to lie down in bed and try to rx. I couldn’t. The image of Aren, desperate


    and mortified in his sleep, haunted me each time I closed my eyes. What could cause him such pain?


    Was it something from his past? “Lanfen…” I muttered, staring nkly at the ceiling. It was probably a


    Chinese name. I wondered if it was his family member, but I had never heard him mention that name


    before. And what was it that he was calling? “Buyao zou”? I wondered what it could mean. Should I ask


    him in the morning? Would he answer? For the first time, I wasn’t sure that he’d tell me the truth…


    I was scared. I couldn’t exin it, but something fragile had broken between us. I hoped that I was


    exaggerating, but my instincts were telling me otherwise. He was the only one who could clear the air


    between us, and he needed to do it willingly without me pushing, but was he going to? Iy with my eyes


    open for the next two hours. By the time the sound of the rm clock spread loudly across the room, I


    just numbly pressed the switch off and got up from the bed, resembling a robot or a robotic zombie. I


    could have seemed indifferent on the outside, but on the inside, I was trembling with anxiety. I took a


    quick shower, corrected my face color with some BB cream, and went downstairs to the kitchen.


    To my surprise, Aren was already up, greeting me with a smile and acting as if nothing had happened.


    That wiped all the anxiety from my system in a sh. I was no longer restless-I was seriously pissed.


    ConTEent bel0ngs to N?v(e)lD/rama(.)Org .


    “How are you feeling?” I asked, hoping that he would mention having a nightmare himself. He smiled


    briefly before turning his attention to making an omelet. “Um… good, I think” I knew that I told myself that


    I wasn’t going to push him, but his carefree mood was making me itch a bit too much. “Do you want to


    talk about what happenedst night?” I asked, pretending to be calm.


    He turned around, looking at me as if he didn’t know what I was talking about. Then he looked up, trying


    to remember, and then said, “You came to my bedroom… You said something about a nightmare.”


    I gave him a suspicious nce. “You sounded like you were in pain, traumatized over something… or


    someone called Lanfen.”


    I registered a minor change in his expression as I mentioned the name. A heartbeatter, his poker face


    remained in ce, but for a split second, a form of restlessness intruded into his confident expression. “I


    don’t remember having a nightmare,” he said lightly. “I only remember you waking me up and telling me


    that I had one.”


    I didn’t fail to notice the way he avoided telling me anything about that Lanfen. I also couldn’t help but


    wonder if he truly didn’t remember anything from his nightmare or if he simply didn’t want to tell me. It


    started to bother me more and more. What if his yesterday’s burst out in the car and that nightmare were


    somehow connected? Something in my gut kept telling me that it wasn’t the kind of a problem that was


    going to disappear or solve itself as time went by.


    “Do you really don’t know anything, or do you not trust me enough to tell me?” I knew that it was a low


    move, but enough bad things were happening around us already, and I had no time to be gentle. He


    red at me. “Don’t start, Cora.” His harsh tone surprised me, making me take a step back “I have never


    promised you full disclosure of my private life. This doesn’t concern you. It isn’t about you. I have a slight


    problem, and I will deal with it on my own.”


    My chest began to hurt as if it was crushed under a pile of stones. “Wow…” I muttered as a bitter smile


    twisted my lips. “And yet I was stupid enough to believe that I was your private life…” I turned around


    and left the kitchen.


    “Cora!” Aren went after me, grabbing my arm as I stepped on the stairs. “Don’t be this way. I only ask you


    to stay out of it this time, all right?”


    It hurt. Was he drawing a line between the differences between the deal in our contract and the so-called


    real rtionship? Was everything that had happened between us before an illusion? Was I only


    imagining that he had feelings toward me? Perhaps I was acting irrational, but I refused to let him have it


    the way he wanted. I turned around to face him and stretched my lips into a sort-of-smile. “I’m sorry,


    Aren. I should have cared about you, or held your hand for hours, hoping that you would sleep


    peacefully. I shouldn’t have done it. I apologize for interfering in your private time. Now, would you


    excuse me? I’m going to call Benjamin. I think it would be better if I went to work separately, so I wouldn’t


    invade your privacy even more.” I jerked my hand away from him and marched up to my bedroom to take


    my purse and jacket. This time he didn’t follow. I was d he didn’t because, at that moment, I felt like a


    doll made of the most fragile porcin that could break in the breeze of the wind. “Idiot! You did it to


    yourself! Did you think that if you bared all of your most disgusting secrets in front of him, then he would


    do the same?!” I scolded myself.


    My heart was aching, I felt betrayed, and I felt furious. Unfortunately, I couldn’t hide my anger when I


    barged into the office with a frown stuck to my forehead.


    “Wow! What happened? Lovers quarrel?” Alen sang teasingly, which earned him my darkest glower. He


    immediately raised his hands in surrender. “Ie in peace, babe. Just remember that we have the


    power to kick his butt real hard if he hurts you.”


    I smiled faintly. As much as I wanted to do something that would make Aren feel as miserable as I did at


    that moment, we had more important things to do. Despite Aren’s iming that some other issue in his


    life didn’t concern me, I treated finding the guy who kidnapped me and wanted to blow me up extremely


    personally. Frankly, I knew that I would sleep much better knowing who he was and how to get rid of him


    using legal means.


    I worked continuously for long hours, ignoring n and Norton, who tried to force me to join them for


    lunch. I knew that if I didn’t pour my energy into work, I might explode. As I sat alone in the office, I heard


    a weak knock on the door. “Come in,” I tossed with little care about who was entering the room. “Mrs.


    Lan… can we talk?” I heard Neil’s extremely timid voice. I faced him, narrowing my eyes. “Did anything


    extraordinary happen?” Heughed nervously. “That’s exactly what I wanted to ask you about…” I sighed


    and leaned my back against the chair. “Aren has been acting strange since yesterday. First, he jumped


    out of the car in the middle of the street because he imed that he saw someone, and then he had a


    nightmare and kept calling someone’s name. When I asked him about it in the morning, he pretended he


    didn’t remember and then he told me that it was his private matter,” I summarized.


    He smiled dryly. “You’re mad at him, aren’t you?” I raised my eyebrows at him. “Wouldn’t you be mad if


    you were me?” He took a chair and sat in front of me, heaving a deep sigh. “You know that he didn’t


    mean to hurt you, and he didn’t mean it to sound like that.” “Do I?” I huffed, irritated.


    Neil put his hands together as if he was about to pray. “Have mercy, I beg you! He fired four people since


    the morning, and I know that the reason for his irrational fury is that he knows that he screwed up big


    time!” he called out pleadingly.


    My lips curved into a smirk. “Are you aware that you are acting more like his parent than his assistant?”


    Neil rolled his eyes. “He is the man when ites to business, but when ites to rtionships, he is


    completely lost. Throughout his life, he was taught how to be the boss, not how to submit.”


    I crossed my hands over my chest. “Well, boo-hoo! He has a wife now and he will have to learn how to


    compromise… even if it’s only a contractual rtionship for him.”


    “I think that’s the whole point.” Neil shot me a crooked smile. “I think the reason why he doesn’t know


    how to react is that he stopped thinking about the contract long ago.” Neil’s words made my aching heart


    heal in a sh and flutter faster than ever before. “W-what do you mean?” I asked, barely restraining my


    curving-up lips. He chuckled. “Well, isn’t it obvious? In my opinion, that guy isn’t just falling for you-he is


    head over heels!”